Mae Chaem (, ) is a district (''

amphoe An amphoe (sometimes also ''amphur'', , )—usually translated as "district"—is the second level administrative subdivision of Thailand. Groups of ''amphoe'' or districts make up the Provinces of Thailand, provinces, and are analogous to count ...

'') of

Chiang Mai province Chiang Mai is the largest Provinces of Thailand, province (''changwat'') of Thailand by area. It lies in Northern Thailand#Regional classification of northern Thailand, upper northern Thailand and has a population of 1.78 million people. It ...

in northern

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

History

Mueang Chaem was created in 1908, consisting of the ''tambons'' Mae Thap, Tha Pha, Chang Khoeng, and Mae Suek split off from Chom Thong. In 1917 it was renamed Chang Khoeng, as the district office was in that ''tambon''. In 1938 it was reduced to a minor district (''

king amphoe An amphoe (sometimes also ''amphur'', , )—usually translated as "district"—is the second level administrative subdivision of Thailand. Groups of ''amphoe'' or districts make up the provinces, and are analogous to counties. The chief district ...

'') and was subordinate to Chom Thong District. In 1939 it was renamed Mae Chaem. In 1956 it was upgraded to a full district. In 2009 the northern part of the district was split off to form the new district, Galyani Vadhana.

Geography

Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise)

Galyani Vadhana Galyani Vadhana, Princess of Naradhiwas (; ; 6 May 1923 – 2 January 2008) was a princess of Thailand and the elder sister of King Ananda Mahidol (Rama VIII) and King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX). She was also a direct granddaughter of King Ch ...

Samoeng Samoeng () is a district (''amphoe'') of Chiang Mai province in northern Thailand. Geography Neighbouring districts are (from the north clockwise) Mae Taeng district, Mae Taeng, Mae Rim district, Mae Rim, Hang Dong district, Hang Dong, Mae Wang d ...

, Mae Wang, Chom Thong and

Hot Hot commonly refers refer to: *Heat, a hot temperature *Pungency, in food, a spicy or hot quality Hot or HOT may also refer to: Places *Hot district, a district of Chiang Mai province, Thailand ** Hot subdistrict, a sub-district of Hot Distric ...

of Chiang Mai Province, and Mae Sariang, Mae La Noi, Khun Yuam, Mueang Mae Hong Son and Pai of Mae Hong Son province. Thailand's highest mountain, high

Doi Inthanon Doi Inthanon (, ) is the highest mountain in Thailand. It is in Chom Thong District, Chiang Mai Province. This mountain is an ultra prominent peak, known in the past as Doi Luang Ang Ga (''Grand Mount Ang Ga'') or meaning the 'crow's pond top'. ...

, in the

Thanon Thong Chai Range The Thanon Thong Chai Range (, , formerly Thanon Range; Burmese ''Tanen Taunggyi'') is a mountain range in northern Thailand. Its tallest peak is Doi Inthanon, the highest point in Thailand. Most of the range is in Chiang Mai Province, with ...

, is in Mae Chaem District.

Economy

The district is a major producer of

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

(corn). Some of the district are devoted to corn cultivation. Another are planted in rice. Mae Chaem's reliance on corn

monoculture In agriculture, monoculture is the practice of growing one crop species in a field at a time. Monocultures increase ease and efficiency in planting, managing, and harvesting crops short-term, often with the help of machinery. However, monocultur ...

has created three problems: farmers are heavily indebted due to the cost of corn crop inputs (seed, fertilisers, other

agricultural chemicals An agrochemical or agrichemical, a contraction of ''agricultural chemical'', is a chemical product used in industrial agriculture. Agrichemical typically refers to biocides (pesticides including insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and nematicid ...

); corn waste totals 90,000

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the s ...

s per year. Half the waste is reprocessed as fertiliser, wood pellets, and animal feed, but the other half is burned in the open, contributing to Chiang Mai's spring air pollution; finally, due to the district's high elevation upstream of the

Ping River The Ping River (, , ; , ) along with the Nan River, is one of the two main tributaries of the Chao Phraya River. It originates at Doi Thuai in the Daen Lao Range, in Chiang Dao district, Chiang Mai province. After passing Chiang Mai, it flows th ...

, sediment from soil erosion has drifted down 272 kilometres to Bhumibol Dam— Thailand's largest hydroelectric power plant—shortening its lifespan. This last issue in particular has prompted the

Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) (; ) is a state enterprise, managed by the Ministry of Energy, responsible for electric power generation and transmission as well as bulk electric energy sales in Thailand. EGAT, establish ...

(EGAT), to create a program called "Energy for All". It envisions community-owned power generation from renewable resources. In Mae Chaem, the power project plans to use corn waste. EGAT has identified two district sites for the first-phase power plants. Each will have a capacity of one

megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

each. The two power plants will cost roughly 120 million

baht The baht (; , ; currency sign, sign: ฿; ISO 4217, code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 ''satang'' (, ). Prior to decimalisation, the baht was divided into eight ''fueang'' (, ), each of eight ''at'' (, ). The ...

each, with the initial electricity to be generated by 2022. Besides ending the open burning of corn residues, the project will provide power to the 70 Mae Chaem villages that have no electricity as of 2019. To eliminate soil erosion, corn monoculture is to be abandoned. The Energy Ministry will help locals to grow other plants such as giant

acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Austral ...

and

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

to serve as

biomass Biomass is a term used in several contexts: in the context of ecology it means living organisms, and in the context of bioenergy it means matter from recently living (but now dead) organisms. In the latter context, there are variations in how ...

for the power plants.

Administration

The district is divided into seven sub-districts (''

tambon ''Tambon'' (, ) is a local governmental unit in Thailand. Below district (''amphoe'') and province ('' changwat''), they form the third administrative subdivision level. there were 7,255 tambons, not including the 180 ''khwaeng'' of Bangkok, whi ...

s''), which are further subdivided into 85 villages (''

muban Muban (; , ) is the lowest Administrative divisions of Thailand, administrative sub-division of Thailand. Usually translated as 'village' and sometimes as 'hamlet (place), hamlet', they are a subdivision of a tambon (subdistrict). , there were 74 ...

s''). Mae Chaem also has sub-district municipality (''

thesaban tambon Thesaban (, , , Pali, Pali: desapāla (protector of region) are the municipalities of Thailand. There are three levels of municipalities: city, town, and sub-district. Bangkok and Pattaya are special municipal entities not included in the ''thesa ...

'') status and covers parts of ''tambon'' Chang Khoeng. There are a further seven tambon administrative organizations (TAO). Missing numbers belong to the sub-districts which became Galyani Vadhana District in 2009.

Ethnography

Mae Chaem comprising five different ethnic groups, namely Tai Yuan, Paganyaw, Lua,

Hmong Hmong may refer to: * Hmong people, an ethnic group living mainly in Southwest China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand * Hmong cuisine * Hmong customs and culture ** Hmong music ** Hmong textile art * Hmong language, a continuum of closely related ...

, and

Lisu Lisu may refer to: *Lisu people, an ethnic group of the mountainous regions of Yunnan (China), Arunachal Pradesh (India), northern Myanmar and Thailand *Lisu language, Tibeto-Burman language spoken by the Lisu people **Fraser script or Old Lisu A ...

.Sorasak Tantayothin (Story) & Nopphadol Khanbua (Photos), อินทนนท์-แม่แจ่ม-แม่อูคอ ธรรมชาติ ชีวิต และดอกไม้ (Inthanon - Mae Chaem - Mae U-kho the meaning of a real-life experience), Osotho, Vol. 60 Issue 4 (November 2019)

Gallery

File:2013 Pano Mae Chaem District 2.jpg, Forests cover a large part of Mae Chaem District File:Wat Pa Daet Mae Chaem 02.jpg, The '' wihan'' of Wat Pa Daet, on the southern end of the town of Mae Chaem File:Wat Pa Daet Mae Chaem 05.jpg, The ''

ho trai A ho trai () is the library of a Thai Buddhist temple. A ho trai can come in different shapes and sizes. For many centuries, the sacred Tipiṭaka scriptures had been written on palm leaves. To preserve the scriptures against humidity and a ...

'' (scriptures depository) and back façade of the ''wihan'' of Wat Pa Daet

References

External links

amphoe.com
{{Amphoe Chiang Mai Mae Chaem